With the growth of computer networks, electronic mail (e-mail) has become a popular means for both personal and professional communication. Due, in large part, to the proliferation of the Internet, e-mail has become a standard means of communication for millions of people.
A sender uses a Mail User Agent (MUA) to create an e-mail message. Examples of MUAs include client-side applications such as Microsoft Outlook and Eudora as well as web-based applications such as Hotmail and Gmail. As is well known, the sender creates the e-mail message by entering one or more e-mail addresses, a message subject, a message body and may also attach files to the message. Each e-mail address comprises two portions. A first portion is referred to as a domain of the e-mail address and references a host name or domain name. The domain is typically located to the right of the ‘@’ sign. A second portion is referred to as a username or account name and is used to identify an e-mail account at the domain. The username is typically located to the left of the ‘@’ sign.
The MUA transmits the e-mail message to the recipient, or recipients, via a transmission e-mail server. The transmission e-mail server includes a Mail Submission Agent (MSA) and a Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) server. The MSA contacts a Domain Name Server (DNS) to resolve the domain name of the e-mail address and obtain a corresponding Internet Protocol (IP) address. The SMTP server uses the obtained IP address to transmit the message to a receiving e-mail server for the recipient. The e-mail message maybe transmitted directly to the receiving e-mail server or it may be relayed via a plurality of Mail Transport Agents (MTAs).
The receiving e-mail server typically includes a MTA, a local delivery agent, local file storage, and a Post Office Protocol (POP) and/or Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) server to allow e-mail message retrieval. The recipient uses a MUA to retrieve the e-mail message from the receiving e-mail server.
In a typical ASCII environment all of the components in the network are capable of processing an ASCII e-mail address. However, e-mail addresses in the near future may contain foreign language (non-ASCII) characters. For example, Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) are defined as Internet domain names that can potentially include non-ASCII characters. It is envisaged that international e-mail addresses may also include IDN usernames as part of such an e-mail address. Therefore, it is possible that the IDN usernames may also include non-ASCII characters.
In order to overcome this limitation, a method has been proposed that allows ASCII-only system components to “downgrade” an IDN e-mail address. Specifically, an alternate, ASCII e-mail address is defined by a user for an IDN e-mail addresses. Accordingly, when an ASCII-only system component receives an IDN e-mail address, the e-mail address is downgraded by replacing it with the alternate, ASCII e-mail address.
Although this solution enables e-mail messages having IDN e-mail addresses to be delivered using existing network components, it requires each user to establish and maintain two different e-mail boxes.
Accordingly, it is desirable to facilitate the delivery of e-mail messages having IDN e-mail addresses across a network that may include one or more components that are compatible only with ASCII e-mail address without the limitations of the prior art.